Maria Morales, a 30 year old Iraq war veteran, describes what happened to her at the 2012 May Day protests in Seattle.

“I have somebody’s knee right on my neck, I can’t breathe. I don’t
know what’s going on. I don’t know what I did wrong, I don’t know what
I’m being arrested for.”
Seattle police had their hands full when a peaceful protest
turned violent after dozens of protesters in black clothing and masks
began breaking windows, spray painting cars, and slashing tires. One officer was even reportedly hit in the face by a glass jar.
Seattle police officer Sonya Fry claimed that the arrest and later
assault charge was due to the fact that Morales had cursed at her and
punched her in the chest. “If it’s your testimony against the testimony of a police officer, you’re going to lose every time,” said Darryl Parker, Morales' lawyer.
Luckily for Morales video of her arrest appeared on Youtube,
showing officer Sonya throwing Morales to the ground. The case against
Morales was immediately dropped after the prosecution saw the video.
“I want to believe the reason people do their job is because they
like it and they’re there to protect citizens and this is not something
they should have done,” Morales said.
SPD would not comment on the case. Morales claims due to the lawsuit
against her, shot lost her home and her job as an emergency medical
technician. Morales who is pregnant, also says she is worried about the
stress that has been put on her baby.
Morales says she hopes that her lawsuit against the city will stop other people from being falsely arrested in the future.